Private company

Koenig & Bauer

Logo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons4

German manufacturer of printing presses

Koenig & Bauer AG (FWB: SKB) is a German company that makes printing presses based in Würzburg. It was founded by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer in Würzburg in 1817, making it the oldest printing press manufacturer in the world still in service. 95% of the banknotes used in the world are printed on printers made by Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions SA, a division of Koenig & Bauer.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1817Founded1
  • Industrymachinery industry and plant construction, manufacture of machinery for paper and paperboard production1
  • HeadquartersWürzburg1
  • Websitewww.koenig-bauer.com
  • Legal formAktiengesellschaft1
  • LEI529900IQ90WSXBWSTD783
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered addressFriedrich-Koenig-Str. 4, 97080 Würzburg, Germany3
  • Registered withLocal Court Würzburg, HRB 1093
FriedrichKoenig-KBA
Photo: Julo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons6

Koenig & Bauer AG (FWB: SKB) is a German company that makes printing presses based in Würzburg. It was founded by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Friedrich Bauer in Würzburg in 1817, making it the oldest printing press manufacturer in the world still in service.2

Corporate structure

Koenig & Bauer sits at the top of its group. 10 entities, 3 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Koenig & Bauer Würzburg, Germany
    • Fondation en faveur du personnel de la maison KBA-NotaSys S.A., Lausanne en liquidation Subsidiary · Lausanne, Switzerland
    • KBA-MetalPrint GmbH Subsidiary · Stuttgart, Germany
    • KBA-NotaSys AG & Co. KG Subsidiary · Würzburg, Germany
    • KOENIG & BAUER (US) INC. Subsidiary · Dallas, Texas, United States
    • Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions SA Subsidiary · Lausanne, Switzerland
    • Koenig & Bauer Digital & Webfed AG & Co. KG Subsidiary · Würzburg, Germany
    • Koenig & Bauer Industrial AG & Co. KG Subsidiary · Würzburg, Germany
    • Koenig & Bauer Kammann GmbH Subsidiary · Bad Oeynhausen, Germany
    • Koenig & Bauer Sheetfed AG & Co. KG Subsidiary · Radebeul, Germany

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Friedrich Koenig in 1817.1

Founded in 1817, by the 20th century Koenig and Bauer had become a major company and the world's leading manufacturer of security printing equipment.

In 1951, the firm began to suffer from the age of the designs of the machines it was selling, some of which dated from the early 1920s, and its chairman, Hans Bolza, faced up to the need to come to terms with Gualtiero Giori, an Italian printer and inventor with a company in Lausanne who had made great advances in intaglio printing. Bolza established an immediate rapport with Giori, and the deal they signed in 1952 led to a long-term agreement in 1958. Koenig & Bauer surrendered to Giori its distribution rights, even in Germany, but gained the exclusive rights to manufacture Giori machines, and the two had a long and profitable association. In 2001, after Giori's death, Koenig & Bauer acquired his company, Giori SA, part of which was renamed KBA Giori

Printing capacity

The table lists the maximum number of pages which the various early 19th-century press designs of Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer could print per hour, compared to earlier hand-operated screw presses. The table includes those designs which were constructed by the pair in England before the establishment of their company upon their return to Germany.

From Wikipedia’s article on Koenig & Bauer, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5

Leadership

Who has led Koenig & Bauer, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Timeline

  1. 1817Founded Founded1